Bereaved and badly injured, victim forgives terrorists

Londoner Garri Holness did not only lose his leg in the July 7 bombings in London, but also lost his mother. Still, he forgives the terrorists and feels sorry for them.

On that fateful day four bombs were detonated, three on underground trains and one on a bus. Days later, people were still under the wreckage.

Mr Holness, 36, had travelled all the way to King's Cross stopping at the Piccadilly line. He had not been able to get on the first train since the platform was full and as he was about to board, a woman jumped in front of him and got on before him.

He does not recall what happened next. He remembers that his head hit the pole he was holding and he was doing his utmost to keep focused. At this point he had already lost part of his leg to shrapnel, but he had not yet realised it.

Soon after that Mr Holness was on the floor pulling people to one side and trying to calm them down. A girl screamed that she had lost her leg.

Mr Holness looked at his leg and realised it was at a very odd angle. And then it hit him how badly he'd been injured.

Mr Holness, who will be featured during the new series of Xarabank in the coming weeks, described his injury to programme presenter Peppi Azzopardi, who visited him in hospital. His leg was so badly torn by shrapnel that one could see to the bone.

Mr Holness recalled being helped by a woman named Alison until the ambulance and police arrived. He and Alison were the last to be taken out of the wreckage and he woke up a few days later at the Royal Free Hospital in North London.

His mother Vera was also in hospital, sedated with morphine like her son. He did not want to see her before she got better because he did not want to shock her with the loss of his leg.

But Mrs Holness died before her son could see her - his first trip out of hospital was to her funeral. In spite of what happened, Mr Holness is not bitter towards the four suicide bombers.

"They were brainwashed... I feel sorry for them," he says, adding that he also felt sorry for their families since they not only lost their children, but their children had also been the cause of so much pain.

However, his feelings towards those who planned the bombings are different.

"These are the people that I hate... these people are turning people against Muslims, because they have taken a little part of the Koran, switched it around, watered it down and brainwashed individuals to believe that what they are doing is correct."

After giving an interview to the BBC, Mr Holness received a letter and a box of chocolates from a Muslim man who apologised and said that not all Muslims were the same.

Xarabank to investigate people's complaints

A new series of Xarabank will start showing on TVM on October 7. The Xarabank team is promising to be more up to date, even to the extent of changing the topic on the morning of the programme. A new feature is Bla Kantunieri which will investigate a person's complaint or problem that can be voiced by phoning on 2124 9200. The findings will then be shown on the programme.

There are several programmes that the Xarabank team have been working on since the last series, such as that on wardens and speed cameras. The public will be able to find out exactly what happens when a speed camera happens to catch them. This programme is bound to be a battle between the wardens and the public.

A programme on the threatened pandemic will ask the questions everybody wants to ask and will seek out the answers. Xarabank will also discuss topics such as child abuse and suicide. It will feature exclusive interviews with relatives of those who have committed suicide and with victims of the July London suicide bombings.

Children will also be given the chance to voice their opinions to the authorities. Reality shows have always been a part of the Xarabank mix, and this year's include one where personalities Julia Farrugia and Ludwig Galea will live with the residents of the San Blas Rehabilitation Centre, following the same intensive programme. Xarabank will be broadcast every Friday after the 8 p.m. news.